About me

I use my real name to name this blog – not for being world’s famous – but because the only thing I am famous for is my preference to openly voice what I think and stand for… what sometimes gets me in trouble.

Who am I?

I’m a Brazilian-Dutch living in Amsterdam with my husband.

To read and write has been an attraction since I was a kid; functioned almost like breathing. I wanted to understand my experiences and describe my perceptions while growing up, and finding my way with parents, friends and life. I was fascinated with books and encyclopedias, traveling around the world through my imagination.

The pen and paper doubled as the teenager’s ‘shrink’, and the mentor for the world’s quests. The ‘shrink’ would rid off doubts, fear and sadness, as everything felt lighter and silly afterwards. The mentor would connect with the inner self in a special way, as an honest passenger in a voyage of discovery.

The young adult didn’t become a professional writer. Instead, my inquisitive mind brought me to Clinical Psychology. But my pragmatic and results oriented side changed course and I became a corporate executive.

I led a fast, diverse, exciting international career, in a few global companies, in different countries and continents. But all I wrote were lots of white papers, reports, proposals, presentations…

In 2012 I changed my life path. I was profoundly affected by the loss of a younger brother to cancer. I left corporate life.

Blogging was in my life in 2014. I went from posting my thoughts to adding my photos in a very fast pace. I am an amateur writer and photographer though.

English is not my mother tongue and I write as I cook; I have many preferences and use many ingredients, but very rarely follow a recipe. I make photos in the same way.

I like to ask questions, explore and discover. That makes me a knowledge-hunter and a very curious person. My drive is not to prove my point but to learn and expand my mind.

Living in different countries made me a cross cultural chameleon, with an open mind to look at every place, person and situation from their many facets and contexts.

My wish is to lend you my lenses to view the world I experience, the stories I imagine, and the views I am still constantly shaping, over all events that touch me.

Hi Marichu, thank you so much for your comments. It’s very good to know how my writing comes across, as am definitely biased to check it myself. Thanks for following me too. Hope to not disappoint you with my future posts. I’m going to follow you too. Cheers.

Yes, you can add it. No need to install anything.
Go to your dashboard, then click on appearance, then choose customize. On the right hand side you will go to Widgets and there you can add the follow button.
Let me know if it works.

“While being stranded in India during a business/pleasure trip in July 2005, I was caught by devastating monsoon floods”
* Hiding the fact that I am from India * 😉
You have an interesting life 🙂 Would love to know more about it

Terri, thank you so much for the nomination and support. It was very nice to read your message in Portuguese and to know that you have family and friends there. You have a beautiful (and tall) family and a great blog! Brazilian abraços!

Hum, how about a slight mark up…I read this on TIME magazine: “The penny and nickel have cost more than their face value for eight years, and in 2013 the Mint lost $105 million producing these two coins alone. The government has spent $8.1 million to research alternative metals that could save the Treasury $30 to $40 million per year.

Oooo. So much goodness and depth here.
Love everything, especially your article from a few days back “Being Perfectly Imperfect” and also “In Search for Inspiration” (that film “The Conditioned” is a real heart and soul opener). Some of my Saturday chores ended up having to take a back seat after I´d discovered your blog yesterday 🙂 .
Thank you for sharing your world, in your words.
I´d be interested in knowing why you chose to write your blog in English.
All the best, Inge

Hi Inge, this is a thoughtful and considerate message. Thank you. I’m glad you like my world, even if that took you away from your Saturday chores. 😉
I went to your blog but my German is poor! Dutch helps just a bit to understand it.
I had a bilingual blog but that was good for me and not the readers. I now have one in English and another in Portuguese. It is much better as I post different things with different focus; learned that from the readers’ comments.
English is my daily language; it was natural to write in English rather than Dutch or Portuguese.
Thanks for the visit and the nice note!!
Best! Lucile

Lucile, what a shame that German isn´t part of your cornucopia. I´m hooked nevertheless.
And anyway, it´s always good to know how to loosen those superego reins, I´ll be back . . . on Saturday 🙂
Through your response I realised that it´s probably better to add my “non-verbal” subdomain with some of my drawings and paintings in the website field. Voilà!

English is the language I grew up with, but German took over quite a while back and the Spanish of childhood days is now only a vague memory. Heeding the comments and branching out into 2 blogs sounds good and clear. My .com address is sitting there waiting patiently for the day I feel ready. Which could still be a while, learning the ropes of Facebook & Co. come first . . .

Sorry, Inge. I studied German for one year, when I lived in Switzerland – not useful to practice there, as you know – but I mix it up with Dutch and make a mess of it.Reading is better though. Glad you are happy with reading in English!
It is a great idea to add your work there. I’d love to see it.
You speak many languages…and if you learned Spanish, it is a step closer to Portuguese…;-)
Take your time to work on your com.address; forced births are always complicated anyways. When you feel that it is the right time, it will happen.
Good luck with Facebook. I use it sine canny years, but basically because all my friends and family are there. I am a passive user though and an observer…
Have a good week and till Saturday!
Best,
Lucile

Good morning Lucile, the link to the subdomain is actually there already – in the comment written 3rd of November. I entered it in the field “website” and your system linked it to my name. The design of the subdomain is pretty simple, it´s nothing official. A friend wanted to look through the pictures, so I did what I could with HTML, Java and photos taken with a very simple camera.

Yes, Spanish is close to Portuguese. The thing is, the Spanish somehow . . . disappeared, to somewhere just without reach. I guess that´s how children´s brains work things out moving around the world. You learn a new language – literally within months – and the language not used anymore just slips out of the way. Figuring out mixed mumblings is not always fun, so let´s stick to English 🙂 And it´s a really nice opportunity, English isn´t part of my everyday life and I miss it.

Bye for now! You know: I´m practising myself in patience and not coming back till the week-end. It´ll be a soul lifter discovering more of your blog and your lines and there´s something so nice about anticipation 🙂 All the best, Inge
P.S. and yes, that .com address can rest exactly as it is for as long as it needs to.

It was really weird to come across a blog that has the last name of Godoy. I have a family member who has that last name, and outside of her never met another one. So hello! Really love your blog by the way 🙂

Surprise! I am not only Godoy but my first name is Lucile Veronica. I have two more surnames btw. But that is a longer story.
Where’s she from? My Godoy comes from Spain (mother’s family). But many say that it originates from France.
Thanks a lot for your visit and I’m happy you liked the blog.
I visited yours and liked it a lot to.
We will ‘see’ each other more often here!
Cheers.

Thanks Paula. You got it exactly right. Although when bridging lacunas I’m often lost in translation. 😉
I like that my blog reflects who I’m and my authentic thoughts without being a personal journal. It’s become much more than I have ever imagined when I started last year at WP. I have met fantastic people like yourself and learnt much more from each one of you than reading many books. Thanks for taking the time to read it. I truly appreciate it, as I value you very highly and find your blog very insightful, intelligent, beautiful and attracting the very interesting people to your community of followers. You are doing a good translation there!

😀 um pouco de dois :D. A few years back I started learning by myself Brazilian Portuguese (using Pimsleur and some other learning programmes) and within two months I was able to audio chat with Brazilian people online. I met some great people from Portugal too who I tried to talk to over the phone, and I was lost 😀 They understood me, but it was a semi-hell for me. Still, I am going to Lisboa in May and will study it again a bit before my trip. I prefer the accent of Brazil of course 🙂

That’s so nice to hear about your interest. It’s fascinating because it’s a bit of a useless language!!
I can totally relate to your experience as even I need a few minutes before I can understand Portuguese from Portugal’s speakers. It’s totally different accent.
I’m going to Porto for 4 days next week and will train my ears again.
You can train with me if you want, via Skype. Of course after your trip to Lisbon!
Totally agree that the Brazilian accent is nicer! 🙂

When are you going again and for how long? Porto is much smaller and relaxing to visit than Lisbon (or so they tell me). I do with a little planning, but I like improvising and keeping my expectations in check, otherwise I get disappointed.

Just to show you how ambitious I was in October – I actually thought I could teach others Portuguese and started compiling my own lessons. Later on my hand got worse (a mild case of carpal tunnel) and due to my work I need to be very careful so I put this other very ambitious blog (I used to post daily) on hold indefinitely. No need to look at it closely or like or comment – I just want to show it to you 😀 https://anytongue.wordpress.com/

Thanks a lot Lucile. I have no idea when I will be able to afford time to that second blog. A demand on the market might give me a necessary push. I don’t do anything for the treatment. I just put ice when it gets unbearable and I try not to type the whole day. It is the only thing I can do. I have a short keyboard without the numerical part and it helps. The trick for me is to relax my hands and to give them a rest often. I am sorry to hear about your injuries. Interesting how some people are prone to them (I fall a lot. but luckily without major consequences).

For now I don’t treat it, but I will think about it if it gets worse. Yoga helped me a lot too with stress, but it has been years since I practiced it. I take this conversation with you as a sign from above that I should resume it 🙂

Of course I shouldn’t be inconvenient and nosy, but I will say it anyways, just because I worried about your hand. So forgive me if am nosy. I think you should not let it get worse and beyond repair.
Pronto! Eu falei!! 😉
I guess it’s a sign too!

I look forward to reading more of your blog. You have had a very interesting life so far and I enjoy anyone with a sense of adventure who likes travel 🙂 I also love the Netherlands (lived in Zwolle for one year) so am so jealous that you live in Amsterdam. Take care and thanks for dropping by so I could meet you.

Thank you so much for your visit too. I truly appreciate your time and kind comment. My moves around the world are nothing compared to yours. I love traveling and I am always searching for adventures though…
And you have lived in Zwolle during high school times! How interesting. Nice city, but you’re right to like Amsterdam better. 😉
Hope to see you again here. I am grateful for the follow. Much appreciated.
Take care.
Lucile

You are most welcome. And yes… have to admit Amsterdam is a tad more interesting than Zwolle. My daughter has fallen in love with Amsterdam (she was 14 at the time) and plans to live there some day. She loves all the Dutch treats!

A cross cultural chamelean, what an interesting way to describe yourself! Really enjoyed readign your About Me page. Sounds like we might have a fair amount in common. So most definitely following your blog!

Thank you so much for the nomination. I am humbled by your kindness and generosity. A while ago I decided to treat awards like that. I accept them but I don’t really follow the rules. I will go to your blog and comment there and answer the questions you may have asked. If that is ok with you, of course. Just feel free to tell me if you don’t agree.
Thanks again!

Thank you so much for thinking of me. As I have been already nominated for this award, if you don’t mind I can answer to the questions you may have on your comments section.
Heartfelt thanks. I really appreciated your kindness.

I’m writing here so you can delete (and hopefully nobody else will see this before you do). I’m sorry I haven’t gotten back to you about the guest post, or monthly. I’m not sure I want to commit to a monthly. I have a hard enough time posting my own…as you can see from my recent total absence from cyberville. I guess I would be willing to do a guest post. And had thought about doing it this month, but now I’m leaving town, don’t know if I can commit. I can try to write it, if it’s done in time, you can use it this month, if not, you can use it whenever?? Does this work for you in any way? From the few moments I’ve been on your blog since last time weeks ago, it appears you’ve made some big changes!!! You are such a hero to the rest of us who flounder trying to do stuff. And then have to apologize for not doing stuff. do you see my email from new comments??

Hi Lucile, can you I link your referral to my blog? I can’t figure out how to. I haven’t written for months and yet I get a like from you everyday which I have to go to to get the notification to stop. Thank you. Still love your blog.

Hi! Of course, no problem. I just saw your other message and will remove the link from now on. Do you also want me to remove the photo and the name of your blog as a participant?
Thanks for having joined!
Cheers!

Indeed, we all get here for different reasons but somehow, among billion of pages, we manage to come across bloggers that think alike or have similar interests. It’s a privilege and a honor to have virtually met you.

Your description feels like me. English is not the first language this side too. I have always loved to read and write. Growing up it was note books and since 2013, it’s the blog. Glad you meet you! I will see you around. ❤